A Winter's Solemn
by T. Misaki
Summary: Extract - The man tilted his head back, closing his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the cold burn his nostrils and freeze his lungs. His heart thumped heavily in his chest as he looked back down at the black abyss. He noted that only an inch of icy metal was all that was between him and that sweet everlasting peace... "Are you going to do it?"- One-Shot


_A Winter's Solemn_

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He didn't remember how he got here, or even know where he was. It was late winter, the snow thick and still genteelly falling but he didn't feel cold, even as he stood staring at the water below. He wore a thin white cotton blouse and black formal trousers, his body oddly numb as they began to become wet with the frozen flakes as he stood on the thin metal platform over the other side of the bridge railing.

The silver hair on his head was ratty and soaked, his ears red but had lost feeling hours ago.

He stood there staring blankly at the icy waves, very faintly illuminated by the lights on the street above, lapping at the concrete supporting walls beneath the bridge, tempting him with it's gentle movements.

He released a shuddering breath as he continued to contemplate his choices, his warm exhale frosting up before disappearing.

He curled his fingers tightly around the frigid metal railing behind him and let his body lean forward, no barriers to catch him should he decide to let go, the angle giving him a very clear view of what awaited him. The sea swirled and danced with the frozen wind, the harsh breeze the only sound in the late of night, no more cars travelled along the road just behind him by at this hour – not many people were foolish enough to subject themselves to this weather.

The man tilted his head back, closing his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the cold burn his nostrils and freeze his lungs. His heart thumped heavily in his chest as he looked back down at the black abyss.

He noted that only an inch of icy metal was all that was between him and that sweet everlasting peace.

"Are you going to do it?"

The man looked up at the railing beside him, a ledge holding metal binoculars bolted into the ground for tourists and whale watchers just out of the way of the pedestrian footpath, there stood young man looking out at the dark horizon, the street light cast upon his back, his chestnut locks ruffled in the breeze and catching the snowflakes that were still slowly falling. He couldn't be more than twenty, perhaps even younger he absently mused. He looked back out to the endless black pit.

"I'm not sure yet." He answered, voice deep and low, "What do you care?"

Neither moved for a while, letting the silence sweep over them comfortably, before the teen broke the quiet again. "I stood there once too." He looked back over to find captivating emerald eyes, full of intense indecipherable emotions, gazing at him.

It was unnerving, but he couldn't seem to tear his own deep violet eyes away.

"Why?" He mumbled before he could stop the words from tumbling from his lips, his voice barely audible above the howling winds but the young man heard him all the same.

"My parent were killed in an accident when I was eight, I was scared of the storm and asked them to hurry home which led them to their deaths. My brother took care of me which forced him to give up his dreams and future; my guilt used to suffocate me." He replied, turning his gaze away from the mess of a man on the platform below him, "It just built up until I couldn't take it any more. One day, I found myself standing exactly where you are."

His tone was subdued, his eyes glazed over. The man assumed that he was lost in thought.

"Why didn't you do it?"

The teen pulled his hands from the warm confines of his brown trench coat's pockets, instead folding his arms and letting his body weight rest on the metal railing, red paint chipped away with wear. He was gazing at him again.

"I thought of my brother." His voice was light, a gentle smile graced his lips, "I didn't want him to go through losing another family member, we only had each other."

He once again lent over the small grey platform he was standing on, his silver hair falling over his eyes at the movement.

"… I don't have anyone." He quietly confessed, his top pearly white teeth sunk into the fragile skin of his bottom lip, trying to keep the tremble from his voice. He didn't want to crumble now, _not now_. "My family cares nothing for each other, I've never known a parents love. The only few friends I do have, have all created their own paths in life. I don't have anyone any more. Why should I have to wake up everyday to my own miserable existence, when I could have peace so easily?" He trailed off quietly as he watched as tears tracked their way down each rosy cheek, glistening like liquid diamonds.

He didn't sob or whine loudly, he didn't make a single sound as the fat droplets rolled down the side of his flushed face, the icy air making his skin blotched with red.

"Why are you crying?" He murmured, the expression the teen wore constricting his heart painfully.

"I know what it feels like to be so alone," He whispered, "But to never have anything… it's so painful to think about." He closed his eyes and placed a hand over his heart, his face contorted into an agonised grimace as he clenched his hand into a fist. "It hurts to think that you feel as though no one cares."

"No one does." Was his automatic blunt response, eyes vacant of emotion again. The man's fingers curled tighter around the bars holding his self, his arms were aching with the strain of the cold and his weight but he ignored it, pain was better than numbness.

"I care." It was said with such conviction that he momentarily allowed himself to believe that.

"You don't know me." He smirk, a chuckle _almost_ bubbled up past his lips.

"Do I need to know you to care?" The teen caught him off guard, not expecting such response. He looked back to the young man, the white street lights giving him an ethereal glow. "What's your name?"

He thought for a second before asking why he wanted to know.

"I want a name to remember you by. I'm going to think of you every time I walk along this bridge," He chuckled softly, an affectionate expression gracing his face, "If you decide to go though with it, I need to know who to send my prayer to."

He swallowed thickly, "Usami Akihiko," He could feel his throat constrict with the surge of emotions the boys words invoked, "Akihiko is fine."

"Takahashi Misaki." He relayed with a tender smile.

"It's getting colder, Misaki." The man hummed thoughtfully, the teens name rolling off his tongue fluidly, Akihiko finding he like the way it felt. "You should head home."

He shook his head in refusal, "I want to stay with you." The boy knew how to pick at the wall he had built around himself for so long, he thought with solemn amusement as his eyes began to sting with unshed tears.

"You'll freeze."

"That doesn't matter."

He tilt his head back in one last attempt to hold back those traitorous little trickles of water that slid down his cheeks on their own accord. The black waves below no longer appearing welcoming and gentle but rather enraged and rough, a sob tore from his throat as finally stepped back from the edge, his head resting on railing.

He had made his choice.

He continued to sob, his frustrations and sorrows finally being released, "Akihiko..." Misaki whispered softly, gaining his attention. He could barely see him through the tears that blinded his sight. The young man reach out a hand to him.

And Akihiko took it.

Still weeping heavily, he grasped the smaller hand and allowed himself to be guided up. The second his feet touched solid safe ground again, he truly fell apart, falling into Misaki's arms he wrapped his own tightly around the slender boy and continued to wail into the crook of his neck. The cold air brushing against his soak frame, the hem of his shirt frozen, all finally getting to him as the numbness wore away.

His body was convulsing violently between shivers and his heaving cries but Misaki said nothing, only holding him tighter still.

Snow continued to fall soundlessly around them as they held each other, both of them saturated to the bone, but that didn't matter to either of the men.

Akihiko couldn't help but drag the teen onto his lap, desperate to have his new found reason to continue on as close to him as he could. He wouldn't allow him to slip away like everything else in his life. He didn't know how long they sat there but eventually his cries subsided, leaving him feeling both emotionally and physically drained.

Misaki murmured something about going to his apartment to get warmed up, but he was barely aware of anything the young man said, just letting him move him like a plasticine doll. He placed his grey scarf around the taller man's neck, arranging it to cover his ears in an attempt at providing him some form of protection from the harsh winds. He also put his knitted gloves on Akihiko's frostbitten hands, though the man felt like that was really a fruitless effort.

He slipped his hand into Misaki, sighing as he felt so much pent up stress finally leave him, he could breath easier now.

He smiled at the boy fondly as they began to walk to wherever the teen was guiding him, _'He's the one...'_ A voice whispered in the back of his mind, and somehow he just knew that as long as he had Misaki, everything would really be ok.

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 _Please Review_

 **Note: I apologise for not updating in the last weeks, I am preparing for my final exams. Anaesthesia is still in progress, again I apologise. I completed this One-Shot in my 'In Progress' folder as a peace offering.**


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